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AT&T to roll out Austin 1 Gbps FTTH service in mid-2014, but pricing not revealed

AT&T (NYSE: T) has provided a bit more clarity about its 1 Gbps fiber to the home (FTTH) launch, announcing that the service will be available in "mid 2014" in parts of Austin, where it will challenge Google Fiber (Nasdaq: GOOG).

The service provider still has yet to reveal pricing. According to a Broadband DSL Reportsarticle, a recent issue on their U-verse GigaPower site suggested that the 300 Mbps tier would cost eligible customers $200 a month.

However, an AT&T spokeswoman told FierceTelecom in an e-mail that they are not ready to talk about pricing yet, adding that there is "more to come."

When the 300 Mbps FTTH speed tier debuts in December it will initially be available in parts of central, northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast Austin and city neighborhoods like French Place, Mueller, Zilker and Onion Creek. Customers will be able to upgrade to the 1 Gbps tier for no extra cost.

Next year, the telco plans to expand the U-verse GigaPower service to other residential and small businesses. AT&T said that Austin residents and SMBs can vote to get them to bring GigaPower to their neighborhood at the www.att.com/austinfiber site.

"These votes are helping us identify where the need for speed and advanced TV services is the greatest and will help guide our future GigaPower expansion plans," said Dahna Hull, vice president and general manager, Austin, AT&T Services Inc., in a release.

While it has yet to reveal any other cities for FTTH, Randall Stephenson, AT&T's chairman, CEO and president, has intimated that they could offer it in other locations.

During the Goldman Sachs 22nd Annual Communacopia Conference in September, he said that improvements in deployment costs and more cooperation from local municipalities is making it easier for them to consider equipping other communities with FTTH.

Outside of Austin, the telco continues to expand the availability of its 45 Mbps DSL service throughout its 22-state footprint.

John Stephens, CFO of AT&T, said during the Q3 earnings call that the 45 Mbps tier is available in "every region to almost two-thirds of our U-verse base," adding that "we are moving ahead with plans for 75 Mbps and faster."

For more:
- see the release

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